Unit for supporting containers storing fluid medium under pressure



Sept. 15, 1964 A. F. ISNARDI ETAL UNIT FOR SUPPORTING CONTAINERS STORINGFLUID MEDIUM UNDER PRESSURE Filed April 18, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 HUPWKLLIAM M- WEIBEL 6/ AT NEY Sept. 15, 1964 A. F. ISNARDI ETAL 3,148,800UNIT FOR SUPPORTING CONTAINERS STORING FLUID MEDIUM UNDER PRESSURE FiledApril 18, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 NunHI INVENTORS ALFRED F. l$NARD\s-rsvsu er. cuuP WILLIAM M-YYVEIBEL I TbRNEY United States Patent3,148,800 UNIT FOR SUPPORTING CONTAINERS STORING FLUID MEDIUM UNDERPRESSURE Alfred F. Isnardi, Totowa, Steven J. Chup, Carlstadt, andWilliam M. Weibel, Pompton Lakes, N.J., assignors to SpecialtiesDevelopment Corporation, Belleville, N.J., a corporation of New JerseyFiled Apr. 18, 1962, Ser. No. 188,408 7 Claims. (Cl. 2223) The presentinvention relates to metallic receptacles, and, more particularly, to aunit including an improved arrangement of a plurality of sphericalcontainers for storing fluid medium under pressure.

At present there is a need for a supply of hydrogen and oxygen which isutilized to operate various devices.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide asupporting unit including a container for confining gaseous hydrogen anda second container for confining gaseous oxygen.

Another object is to provide such a unit for confining these gases underextremely high pressures and thereby store a large supply of gas in acontainer having a small volume.

Another object is to provide such a unit which is compact, small in sizeand relatively light in weight but yet can store a desired quantity ofthe gaseous medium.

Another object is to provide such a unit which can be readily assembled.

A further object is to provide such a unit which is simple andeconomical in construction.

Other and further objects of the invention will be obvious upon anunderstanding of the illustrative embodiment about to be described, orwill be indicated in the appended claims, and various advantages notreferred to herein will occur to one skilled in the art upon employmentof the invention in practice.

A preferred embodiment of the invention has been chosen for purposes ofillustration and description, and is shown in the accompanying drawings,forming a part of the specification, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a unit in accordance with the present inventionwith certain parts broken away for clearness.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 22 on FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary bottom'view illustrating a detail of the unit.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, there is shown a unit whichgenerally comprises a spherical container for storing oxygen having avalved outlet 11, a spherical container 12 for storing hydrogen having avalved outlet 13, and elements described hereinafter for maintaining thecontainers in side-by-side assembly with a longitudinally extending axispassing through the centers of the containers and with the outletslocated in the space between adjacent surfaces of the containers andwithin the confines of the containers, that is, between the axis and thesurface of the containers outermost of the axis.

The elements just mentioned include a chock 14 between the containers 10and 12 having opposite Surfaces 15 and 16 which are recessed at 17 orare otherwise contoured for receiving a portion of the containers 10 and12 respectively; an end member 18 facing the surface 15 and contoured at19 for receiving a portion of the container 10; an end member 20 facingthe surface 16 and contoured at 21 for receiving a portion of thecontainer 12; and a plurality of circumferentially spaced, lengthwiseextending assembling means 22 connected between the end members 18 and20 for relatively moving the end members towards each other to clamp andsecure each container between its end member and the chock 14.

The assembling means 22 each include a strap 24 connected at one end toa lug 25 on the end member 20 and at the other end to a bolt 26extending through an aperture 27 in the end member 18 and having a nut28 threaded thereon which bears against a washer 29 at the outer face ofthe end member 18.

The valve controlled outlets 11 and 13 respectively include a valve 30,31 and a conduit 32, 33 connected at one end to the outlet of the valve.The details of the valves are not shown because these valves may be ofany conventional type which are normally closed and are adapted to berespectively opened by a pull cable 34, 35.

The valves 30 and 31 face each other, with the longitudinal axis of thevalve 30 on the container 10' being disposed in a horizontal plane andthe longitudinal axis of the valve 31 on the container 12 being disposedin a vertical plane, as viewed in FIG. 1, so that these valves arespaced circumferentially about downwardly, and the valve 30 slantsforwardly, both at an angle of about 45 to provide a compactarrangement.

As shown in FIG. 1, the valve 30 faces towards the right and its pullcable 34 extends horizontally through the end member 20; and the valve31 faces towards the left and its pull cable 35 first extendshorizontally towards the left, passes through a guide member, such as aU-shaped tube 36 secured to the inner face of the end member 18 toreverse its direction, and extends horizontally through the end member20, whereby both pull cables are accessible at the outer face of the endmember 20 and both pull cables are operable to open their valve by apulling force from left to right.

The gases are stored in the containers at a high pressure but are usedat a much lower pressure which is provided by conventional pressureregulators 37 and 38 for the containers 10 and 12, respectively. Asshown in FIG. 2, the pressure regulators are mounted on the chock 14 anddiverge upwardly therefrom at an angle of about 30 to the vertical.

In order to facilitate fluid flow connection of the pressure regulatorsto containers, the chock 14 has a pair of passageways 39 and 40extending therethrough. The inlet of the pressure regulator 37 isconnected to the upper end of the passageway 39, and the conduit 32 ofthe container 10 is connected to the lower end of the passageway 39. Theinlet of the pressure regulator 38 is connected passageway 40. Theoutlets of the pressure regulators each have a conduit 41 connectedtheretowhich extends through the end member 18.

The container 10 may be slightly smaller than the container 12, and ispositioned by using an end member 18 which is a ring having a centralopening providing the contour 19 for receiving the container 10. The endmember 20 is circular plate formed with an inwardly facing recess whichprovides the contour 21 for receiving the container 12. The end membersare of equal diameter and define a tubular envelope enclosing thecontainers, their valves, pressure regulators and pull cables, and theassembling means, whereby a unit of minimum dimensions is provided.

In a practical embodiment of the present invention, the

end members 18 and 20 have a diameter of about 4.75 inches and theoverall length of the unit is about 8.5 inches. The container 10 is asteel sphere having an inner diameter of about 3.31 inches and having awall thickness to safely store oxygen therein at 8000 psi. The container12 is a steel sphere having an inner diameter of about 4.13 inches andhaving a wall thickness to safely store hydrogen therein at 8000 psi Thecontainer 10 has a volume of about 19 cubic inches and the container 12hasa volume of about 37 cubic inches, whereby the The valve 31 slantsunit can store about 0.048 pound of hydrogen and about 0.533 pound ofoxygen. The pressure regulators reduce the pressure of the gases toabout 1.0 psi. at the outlet thereof to provide a continuous flow ofgases at such low pressure for about 48 hours. Such a unit weighs about8' pounds when fully charged.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that the presentinvention provides an improved arrangement of metallic receptacles forstoring and supplying gases for power generating devices and the like.

As various changes may be made in the form, con-. struction andarrangement of the parts herein, without departing from the spirit andscope'of the invention and without sacrificing any of its advantages, itis to be understood that all mat-ter herein is to be interpreted asiiluss trative and not in any limiting sense.

We claim:

1. A unit for supportingcontainers storing fluid medium under pressure,the unit comprising a pair of spherical containers for confining themedium therein and each havinga valve controlled outlet, said containersbeing arranged side-by-side and with said outlets located in the spacebetween adjacent surfaces of said containers, chock means between saidcontainers having opposite surfaces each contoured for receiving aportion of one of said con tainers, an end member contoured forreceivinga portion of one of said containers, an end member contoured forreceiving a portion of the other of said containers, and means forrelatively moving said end members towards each other to secure each ofsaid containers between one of said end members and said chock means.

2. A unit for supporting containers storing fluid medium underpressurethe uni-t comprising a pair of spherical containers for confining themedium therein and each having a valve controlled outlet, saidcontainers being arranged side-by-side and with said outlets locatedentirely in the space between adjacent surfaces of said containers,chock means between said containers having. opposite surfaces eachcontoured for receiving a portion of one of said containers, anendmember contoured for receiving a portion of one of said containers, anend member contoured for receiving a portion of the other ofsaidcontainers, means for relatively moving said end members towardseach other to secure each of said containers between one of said endmembers and said chock means, and conduit means connected at one end toeach of said container outlets and extending through'said chock means.

3. A unit according to claim 2, wherein a pressure regulator isconnectedto the other end of each conduit means, and said pressure regulators arelocated substantially entirely in the space between adjacent surfaces ofsaid containers.

4. A unit for supporting containers storing fluid medium under pressure,the unit comprising a pair of spherical containers for confining themedium therein and each having a valve controlled outlet, saidcontainers being arranged side-by-side and with said outlets locatedentirely in the space between adjacent surfaces of said containers, achock member between said containers having opposite surfaces eachcontoured for receiving a portion of one of said containers, an endmember contoured for receiving a portion of one of said containers, anend member contoured for receiving a portion of the other of saidcontainers, means for relatively moving said end members towards eachother to secure each of said containers between one of said end membersand said chock member, said chock member having a pair of passagewaysextending therethrough, and a conduit member for connecting each of saidcontainer outlets to one end of one of said passageways.

5. A unit according to claim 4, including a pair of pressure regulatorsmounted on and secured to. said chock member and located substantiallyentirely in the space between adjacent surfaces of said containers, eachof said regulators having an inlet connected in fluid flow.communication with the other end of one of said passageways,

6. A unit for supporting containers storing fluid medium under pressure,the unit comprising a pair of spherical conta ners for confining themedium therein and each having a valve controlled outlet, saidcontainers being ar-' ranged side-by-side and with said outlets, locatedentirely in the space between adjacent surfaces of said containers, achock member between said containers. having opposite surfaces eachcontoured for receiving a portion of one of said containers, an endmember contoured. for'receiving a portion of one of said containers, anend member contoured for receiving a portion of the other of saidcon-.tainers, means for relatively moving said end members towards each otherto secure each of said containers between one of said end members andsaid chock member, a pull cable for opening each oi said valvecontrolled ontlets, and guide means for said cables for rendering theend of said cables at which an operating force is to be appliedaccessible at the outer side of the same end member.

7. A unit according to claim 6', wherein said guide means include aguide element mounted on the inner side: of said other end member forreversing the direction in which one of said cables is guided.

References Cited in the file of this patent I UNITED= STATES PATENTS2,047,339 Thomas July 14, 1936 2,072,577 Allen Mar. 2 1937 2,221,967Farrar Nov. 19, 1940 2,311,955 Merker Feb. 23, 1943.

1. A UNIT FOR SUPPORTING CONTAINERS STORING FLUID MEDIUM UNDER PRESSURE,THE UNIT COMPRISING A PAIR OF SPHERICAL CONTAINERS FOR CONFINING THEMEDIUM THEREIN AND EACH HAVING A VALVE CONTROLLED OUTLET, SAIDCONTAINERS BEING ARRANGED SIDE-BY-SIDE AND WITH SAID OUTLETS LOCATED INTHE SPACE BETWEEN ADJACENT SURFACES OF SAID CONTAINERS, CHOCK MEANSBETWEEN SAID CONTAINERS HAVING OPPOSITE SURFACES EACH CONTOURED FORRECEIVING A PORTION OF ONE OF SAID CONTAINERS, AN END MEMBER CONTOUREDFOR RECEIVING A PORTION OF ONE OF SAID CONTAINERS, AN END MEMBERCONTOURED FOR RECEIVING A PORTION OF THE OTHER OF SAID CONTAINERS, AND